A-State men's and women's track teams place second at Sun Belt Outdoor Championships

MIRAMAR, Fla. (ASU) - The Arkansas State University track and field teams wrapped up competition at the 2013 Sun Belt Conference (SBC) Outdoor Track Championships this Sunday (May 12) as both the men and women registered second-place finishes in the three-day conference meet held at the Ansin Sports Complex in Miramar, Fla.

The A-State men's team, which shared or held the conference meet's top placing the first two days (May 10-11), registered 131 points to claim runner-up honors and finished seven points in back of Middle Tennessee's first-place 138 points total. The ASU women's squad also claimed first place in the meet's initial two days, but was unable to maintain its standing a top the points leader board as the Red Wolves scored 131 points to place second. North Texas successfully defended its conference outdoor title by tallying a first-place 151.5 points

"I was pleased with the effort both our men's and women's teams gave this weekend," said second-year ASU head coach Jim Patchell. "It was a very close and hard fought competition on both sides. We had a couple of missteps and came up a little short of our goal to win both championships.

"However, I do believe we came one step closer to getting this program where it needs to be and I think we have established ourselves as one of the top teams in the Sun Belt (Conference)," added Patchell.

Senior Solomon Williams highlighted the final day of the championships for the Red Wolves, winning the triple jump and 110-meter hurdles. Williams produced a mark of 51-06.50/15.71m in the triple jump and then turned in a 13.88 time in the 110-meter hurdles. Junior Chris Nicasio broke his own conference-meet record in the hammer throw by generating a first-place 204-10.65/62.45m distance. Nicasio's surpassed his 202-11.00/61.84 performance at the 2012 championships (5/13) and fell just short of bettering his personal career-record 205-08.50/62.70m effort earlier this season (4/5) at the Southeast Missouri State Joey Haines Invitational. Junior Ethan Sandusky captured first place in the pole vault by clearing a height of 16-06.03/5.03m. As a result of their respective first-place performances, the three A-State athletes earned first-team all-conference accolades.

Arkansas State posted 10 other scoring performances on Sunday, including junior Joey Meyer's second-place time of 20.97 in the 200-meter dash and junior Kashef Daniel's second-place tying triple jump 6-08.70/2.05m distance. Shane Heathcock also had a noteworthy outing in the pole vault event, garnering third-place honors as the junior cleared the bar at 16-06.03/5.03m. Joey Meyer picked up five points in the 100-meter dash with a fourth-place 10.66 time and ran the last leg on A-State's 4x400-meter relay team which raced to a 3:12.00 time to take fourth place. Comprising the Red Wolves' 1,600-meter relay squad besides Meyer were sophomore Devin Noel, Solomon Williams, and junior Richard Williams.

For the ASU women, Sharika Nelvis placed first in the 100-meter dash, the 200-meter dash, and the 110-meter hurdles. Nelvis sprinted to an 11.60 time for top placing in the 100 meters and broke the tape first in the 200 meters by crossing the line in a time of 23.54. She would net the Red Wolves another first-place 10 points in the 110-meter hurdles by setting a new Sun Belt Outdoor Championship record 13.24 time, bettering the mark of 13.28 established in 2011 (5/15) by North Texas' Alysha Adams. Junior Kristina Aubert accounted for A-State's other first-place showing as she bested all runners in the 1,500-meters with a 17:01.92 time.

After the meet, Solomon Williams was honored as the Sun Belt Conference's Most Outstanding Field Performer while Sharika Nelvis earned the SBC's Women's Most Outstanding Track Performer Award for the second year in a row. Nelvis, a 2012 U.S. Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Second-Team All-America selection, won four events at the 2012 conference outdoor meet en route to achieving most outstanding track performer recognition and was also the 2013 SBC Indoor Championship's Most Outstanding Performer. Junior Kristina Aubert accounted for A-State's other first-place showing as she bested all runners in the 5,000-meters with a 17:01.92 time, just missing her league meet mark of 17:00.59 set at last season's (5/13) conference championships. Aubert's team-best 4:35.80 time in the 1,500-meter runearned her fifth place and the Red Wolves four points.

Senior Julia Agawu led ASU in hammer throw as she chalked up second place with a throw of 182-00.25/55.48m. Arkansas State would collect points on eight other performances, highlighted by three sixth-place showings. Junior Kim Ludick-Raath was sixth in the javelin at 130-02.98/39.70m and freshman Sabrina Antimo 12.22 time in the 100-meter dash proved worthy of sixth place. Senior Samantha Salinas had a sixth-place 17:42.84 time in the 5,000 meters.

All first-team Sun Belt Conference honors were bestowed upon those individuals who finished first in a running or field event while runner-up finishers received second-team laurels and third-place finishers attained third-team all-league kudos.